The Illinois Libertarian Party has filed a criminal complaint against the state's Republican Party. The Libertarians allege the GOP hired armed private investigators to go to the homes of voters who had
signed the petitions to put the Libertarian slate on the November election ballot.
The PI's supposedly had guns visible when asking individuals to sign an affidavit confirming that their original signature was NOT valid. Brian Lamprecht, with the Illinois Libertarian Party, says
the tactics the GOP used end up hurting democracy.
"When people look in the news and they see that armed private investigators are showing up at their doors, and people are being intimidated into signing affidavits, that's a scary thing to happen to citizens anywhere."
Lamprecht says Libertarians don't buy Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner's claim that he knew nothing about the armed investigators, despite previous ties linking those involved to Rauner's campaign. The Libertarians have filed criminal complaints with the Illinois Attorney General and the Cook County State's Attorney against both the GOP and Rauner's campaign.
Established parties commonly try to challenge the paperwork filed by third parties in an attempt to get their candidates knocked from the ballot. There's a theory that any votes going to the Libertarian Party could hurt Rauner in a neck-and-neck race against Democrat Governor Pat Quinn.
